October 30, 2014

Myopic / Torrid Husk - Crawling Mountain Apogee

By Matt Hinch. I've written about both Myopic and Torrid Husk before and now the two come together on a split entitled Crawling Mountain Apogee. Each band contributes two tracks, the shortest of which clocks in at 8:12. With so much time to work with there is plenty of room to explore.

I've written about both Myopic and Torrid Husk before and now the two come together on a split entitled Crawling Mountain Apogee. Each band contributes two tracks, the shortest of which clocks in at 8:12. With so much time to work with there is plenty of room to explore. And explore they do.

Myopic opens the split with the 10:44 “Unction in Passing”. The track builds slowly with dominant bass leading the way. Post-black metal moments give way to the progressive bass and searing black metal runs. Even then, they surge with a tremulous flair and flow and an openness that's hard to categorize. It's when the bass takes over that the soul of the track is laid bare. There's a beauty in the simplicity that gives it tremendous heart. From there the track meanders hither and yon, returning to its blackened core and integrating their exploration as it circles around between aggression and progression.

Moving into “Remembrance” Myopic takes a darker, more menacing turn bringing in doom elements. Holding on to the prog and post touches the storm intensifies as trembling guitars break free of earthly tethers to dance among the stars. Eventually the darkness pulls the track back into the depths and set it upon a chase before concluding in an amalgam of the track's elements.

Torrid Husk follow up with “All Ballasted the Elk”. Field recordings give way to their melodic black metal full of reluctant warmth and disgusted raspy growls. It morphs into a zone with some bounce to the percussion. Even the melodies take on a different, more uplifted feel. That doesn't last as a brief scorched earth moment leads to quiet introspection like a fog clearing to reveal true feelings; shedding an artificial protective exterior. Even more desperate vocals call for a blasting, swirling, burrowing return. Fight and flight at once, closing out with harsh but relieving melody to ease the scars.

“So howled out to the world to give him a name” goes for the throat in a most unsettling way. Deathly growls and a paranoid aura are enough to make the skin crawl under a relentless battering of percussion and fast yet creepy rhythms and melody. Delicate guitar breathes air into the song's midsection only to be destroyed by black metal's annihilating force. Progressive elements and soaring melodies mingle with forceful percussion and
slavering vocals coalescing into a wave of feedback and a closing return to the field recordings.

Both bands have upped their game on this excellent split. Fusing powerful and velocious black metal with dynamics and progressive explorations, Myopic and Torrid Husk push their names into new regions of recognizability. Coupled with the spectacular production that comes out of the Grimoire Records camp, it's apparent that there is a wealth of talent and vision comprising these two bands. Crawling Mountain Apogee is everything the
name implies and more. Unsettling, awe-inspiring, far reaching, muscular, challenging and captivating.